Last year, I didn't really address it much (see comments from last year's post) but this year she is fully capable of having a discussion about it. I asked what she knew about it, and thankfully it wasn't much. I told her that some people were afraid that the earth was in trouble because of what people did, but that they were wrong, and their worries were based on faulty science. She said, "Well, we have plenty of trees!" with exasperated hand gestures, as if to say "what are they thinking?"
We talked about how electricity and many other great inventions make our lives better, and she immediately said, "Yeah, and we turn off the lights when we leave so we don't waste our money!" Energy conservation and recycling are messages that are hammered on all year by schools and media, so that's a lesson we've covered well. We recycle in our house because it saves our town money in trash bills and keeps our taxes lower (this is true) and we conserve our water and electricity because he have to pay for it. Even my 3-year old understands this logic!
This turns the floating abstraction (to a child anyway... heck, even to most adults) of environmentalism and the specific actions promoted by the greens into concretes with rationally defined human values as their result. Of course, the only "green" things we do in our house are the two mentioned above, so it's easy to do. There is no risk of having to twist logic to support eating from dirty dishes because we'll only use "eco-friendly" cleaners that don't work, all because we're irrationally petrified of killing fish with Cascade detergent.
As we're buffeted by earth day hype in the next few weeks, keep in mind what ideas are at the root of the environmental movement, what their ultimate goal is, and what's at stake.
The essence of environmentalism:
(click image above to view, if it's cut off)What's really at stake:
2 comments:
I think people living in third world countries which are embracing free-market policies like India where I live tend to understand the anti-human roots of environmentalists better.
Its the recent past which they have left back which is Zimbabwean in nature which nobody wants to return to. Although greens here also are fighting the evils of rising standard of living and prosperity but except for the big metros they are yet to make a very big impact. They are especially pro-active in city private schools (I have occasinal talks with my nephew to explain things)
I almost pity them as it must be torturous for them to see a billion people trying very hard to acquire a bigger footprint.
Thanks for that perspective. In India, the greens bemoan being ignored as a billion people try to acquire a bigger footprint, and in the West, we revere Al Gore and ask him breathlessly how we can cut our own feet off.
Post a Comment